Re[2]: alfa-digest V9 #150 - helmets

[Richard Welty <rwelty@domain.elided>]

On Sat, 4 Jan 2003 13:04:47 EST AlfaNeely@domain.elided wrote:
>        Just a hint on the Snell sticker.  As an SCCA scrutineer / tech 
> inspector, I ALWAYS look for the little sticker under the liner inside
> the 
> helmet.  The stickers on the outside of the helmet are not the official
> Snell 
> sticker.  The Snell sticker will be about one inch by about two inches
> and 
> have the standard the helmet meets on the sticker.

an additional hint:

beginning in 2000, snell stickers are now holographic and of the type that
will display "void" if removed.

a nediv scca ITB driver (not an alfa driver) showed me his brand new bieffe
helmet at his annual tech last year. he was very proud of the fact that he
had moved the SA-2000 sticker from the inside to the outside to make it
easier for tech.

i knew he wasn't deliberatly trying to snow me (and that the helmet was
ok), so i gave him a SCCA 2002 helmet sticker and carefully explained to
him why he was going to have an infinite amount of trouble getting the
helmet through 2003 annual tech from then on.

DON'T MESS WITH THE STICKER.

the holography/void thing was done to prevent, um, "certain drivers" from
buying a new helmet, and moving the sticker to their favorite motorcycle
helmet. and yes, such drivers exist.

>     For SCCA road racing, only Snell SA type helmets are allowed. 
> And 
> they must be the current and one previous standard.  Snell standards are 
> published every five years, thus SCCA allows the SA-2000 and SA-95
> helmets 
> only.

some additional notes:

the helmet transition is not coded into the SCCA GCR. everytime a new
snell certification comes out, the SCCA competition board reviews the
circumstances and makes a recommedation to the SCCA BoD. they invariably do
the same thing each time, but it's not truly a sure thing. note also that
they have traditionally provided for a one year transition, during which
the current and previous _2_ snell standards are accepted.

>        It is my understanding that the only difference between the M and
> the 
> SA standards is the Nomex lining.  I could be wrong on that.  Perhaps I 
> should research that on the Snell web page!

last time i reviewed (which was around 95-96), the SA standard included all
M tests and a couple of additional impact tests.

for high end manufacturers, you will likely find that where a helmet is
available in both M and SA variants, the only difference will be the liner.
this is purely a manufacturing economy measure, it would cost more to make
if the helmets differed in more than the liner.

richard
--
Richard Welty                                         rwelty@domain.elided
Averill Park Networking                                         518-573-7592
              Unix, Linux, IP Network Engineering, Security
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